


Well I Can Dance With You, Honey, If You think It’s Funny (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)

by knowyourrights



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Ruining History (Web Series)
Genre: Best Friends, Cheesy, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, One Shot, Prom, Shane Madej Being an Idiot, Shane Madej being Shane Madej, also ABBA if you squint I guess, bad 2003 anthems, my sons are so in love, ruining history if you squint, ryan being a cinnamon roll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 17:06:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowyourrights/pseuds/knowyourrights
Summary: Sometimes all you need to start a romance is a good attitude and an anthem from 2003.AKAShane is in love but he just doesn’t know it yet.





	Well I Can Dance With You, Honey, If You think It’s Funny (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)

“So then this fuckin’ bear is just shovelling crates around-“

“Bullshit,” Shane cut Ryan off in a singsong voice, taking another sip of mystery-fruit-flavoured punch. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Shane’s best friend to try to convince him of some off the walls conspiracy theory, and Ryan Bergara kept this up even at their senior prom. Whilst awkward couples and groups of girls were shuffling around on the makeshift dance floor, the basketball court, Shane and Ryan were huddled at a back table.  
“Google it if you don’t believe me! There are photos!” The exasperated teenage boy argued, pulling his face into a fake frown, eyes still gleaming with joy. Shane could never get enough of Ryan’s eyes. They were just that damn expressive. He had a different look in them when he was happy, when he was mad; hell, he had a specific expression for Starbucks running out of cinnamon buns.   
“Yeah, yeah, just like there were photos of those aliens, and those ghosts, and freaking Bigfoot?” Shane relished in an opportunity to wind Ryan up, watching him go all squeamish and red. Sometimes, if Shane found the right combination of eyebrow expressions and buzz words, a vein would even pop in his forehead.   
“I’m not even going to argue with you on this. You’re _bullying_ me.” Ryan gave a smug expression, folding his arms around the back of the chair that he was sitting backwards on.   
“Oh, this is bullying?” Shane asked, going along with Ryan’s stupid act.   
“Yeah, I honestly feel pretty harassed right now. You’re invalidating my beliefs.”   
“Wow, that must be pretty rough for you, dealing with my constant abuse.” Shane answered, sarcasm dripping from his voice.   
“Do I detect a hint of mockery in your voice?” Ryan wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, from all of Shane’s bullying.   
“I would never.”   
“Quit abusing me.”  
“ _Make me, Bergara_.”  
Shane swore that he could hear Ryan’s breath hitch slightly at his comment. He had intended for it to bounce off of Ryan’s playful demands, but it had instead rolled off of his tongue in an almost sultry way, and now Ryan was staring at him, dead fucking serious.   
The silence lasted years, and Shane wanted death.   
“Whatever, dude, save your tinfoil hat stories for your blog.” Shane said, awkwardly breaking the impossibly long quiet, his voice cracking slightly.   
But Ryan was still just staring at him, and those goddam eyes were killing him, shifting from one emotion to the next like shattered glass in the sun. This was an expression that he didn’t recognise, a strange sort of surprise mixed with unreadable darkness.   
“You okay? Berg-“ Shane started, but Ryan cut him off suddenly.   
“Do you dance?” He blurted out, seeming more surprised than Shane. He looked into the space in front of him in confusion, as though the words had literally fallen out of his mouth and onto the floor.   
“What?”   
Ryan tried to reconfigure the words in his head, and Shane could almost see the cogs turning. “Do you want to dance? With me. Now. Do you want to dance with me?”  
Shane gave a perplexed smile. “Since when do you dance?”  
“When in Rome.” Ryan shrugged, glancing at the crowds of teenagers. He held out a cautionary hand, and Shane watched the adorable mixture of nervousness and giddiness play out on Ryan’s face. God, he was cute. Shane sometimes wondered if Ryan was aware as to just how goddamn _precious_ he could be.   
“Come on, man, take a chance on me.”   
Shane gave a perplexed smile. “Was that an intentional ABBA reference?” He could never get enough of Bergara’s stupid pop culture references.   
“Maybe.”  
“I’m a horrible dancer, I’ll just fall- probably take you down with me- and a handful of other people, maybe even knock over the DJ booth. It’ll be a bloodbath. I don’t dance.” Shane said matter-of-factly. He was being entirely serious. The fun combination of ridiculously long legs and a lack of co-ordination that he had been blessed with meant that dancing really did become a safety hazard to those around him, and the last thing Shane wanted was for Ryan to end up with a bloody nose.   
“Humour me.” Ryan pushed, standing up, and extending his arm even further to Shane. And was that- genuine hope in his eyes?   
“If you die, I’m throwing you the worst funeral.” Shane reluctantly unfolded his legs and stood up, towering awkwardly over the smaller teenager. As they made their way over to the dance floor, Shane couldn’t help but feel like Bambi taking his first steps, his long, twig-like legs tripping over themselves as he stumbled through the crowd.   
“Jesus, you look like a goddamn giraffe.” Ryan sputtered out, trying to contain his laughter.   
“Fuck off, Bergara.” Shane mumbled in response, feeling awkward and out of place surrounded by the dancing bodies. Ryan was a better dancer than him, and if he messed up, he was hidden by the taller students surrounding him. If Shane fucked up and tripped, the whole prom would get a brilliant view of his crumbing body, and then he would have a panic attack, and then probably die. That would be just his luck. He tried to think of a parallel universe where he had stayed home, masturbating and smoking pot, as he shifted within a six inch radius to the Britney Spears hit that was blaring over the crappy speakers.   
The final notes of Toxic rang out, and the high schoolers were given a moment of silence to reflect on how willing they were to dance to whatever was coming on next.   
“What are you so scared of? Who the fuck are you worried about embarrassing yourself in front of?” Ryan asked, combing his fingers through his hair, and yeah, wow.   
Before Shane had a chance to blurt out an answer, an electric guitar was blasting out across the crowd, the familiar riff making Shane groan with annoyance, whilst Ryan let out an involuntary squee of excitement.   
“Oh, you’ve _got_ to be _kidding_ me.” Shane grumbled.   
“Nah, baby! This is it! Shit, this is what I’ve been waiting for!” Ryan dramatically flung his rented suit jacket over one of his shoulders, as Shane watched in mild amusement, only rivalled by his irritation.   
Ryan pointed a finger at Shane, slowly walking towards him as he mouthed along with the lyrics.   
_‘Can’t explain all the feelings that you’re making me feel...’_  
Ryan gave a flirtatious wink as he followed the British singer’s voice, relishing in Shane’s indignation.   
“You’re being ridiculous-“  
Ryan used his pointed finger to cover Shane’s mouth, interrupting him as he continued with his serenade of the other teenager.   
_‘My heart’s in overdrive, and you’re behind the steering wheel!’_  
“I’m actively losing respect for you the longer that this continues” Shane’s muffled voice said over the repetitive riff.   
“That’s the plan!” Ryan broke character briefly, unable to contain the retort.   
_‘Touching you..’_  
Shane could help but crack a smile at Ryan’s clear excitement as the singer began his ridiculously high falsetto, because, shit, he was adorable. Those eyes and their glimmer of eagerness swallowed Shane whole.   
_‘Touching me...’_  
Shane felt this unfamiliar swell in his chest, because Ryan’s animation was spreading to him, infectious as ever. Ryan could convince Shane to do just about anything; from dancing to the stupid pop punk ballad to following him off of the edge of the earth.   
_‘Touching you-‘_  
And without knowing what he was doing, Shane threw caution into the wind and mouthed right along with Ryan, tuxedo jacket thrown to the side and twirling Ryan into a ballroom dip, the two cackling uncontrollably.   
_‘God, you’re touching me!’_  
She could feel a stitch forming as the teenagers jumped around together, laughing wildly as they mouthed the impossibly fast lyrics, making dramatic gestures and falling to their knees with every declaration of love.  
 _‘I believe in a thing called love! Just listen to the rhythm of my heart! There’s a chance we can make it now! We’ll be rocking till the sun goes down! I believe in a thing called love!’_  
“I fucking knew you secretly liked this song!” Ryan exclaimed, grabbing a hold of Shane’s arm, shaking him with happiness as he yelled over the music.   
“The things I do for you, Ryan!” Shane gasped out, holding his abdomen as to cope with his stitch. He didn’t know whether it was from the eccentric dancing or the uncontrollable laughter.   
“Shit- you called me Ryan!” The teenagers eyes widened, as did his grin, and in that moment, with this semi-crazy look plastered over Ryan’s face, Shane couldn’t control himself.   
He pulled Ryan close to him, and slapped a clumsy kiss straight onto his mouth, still nearly in hysterics.   
He could feel his entire digestive system rearranging itself as it flipped over, like that feeling when he was on that stupid Incredible Hulk Coaster that Ryan had convinced him to ride at Universal Studios the previous year.   
It was like that, with a hint of brain freeze, and his legs going numb.   
As he began to pull away from the impromptu kiss, he noticed that something was keeping them together; and when he looked down, he saw Ryan’s arms squeezed around his waist, holding him tightly. Ryan’s face was looking up at him, still grinning, those eyes still shining.   
“I thought you’d never ask.” Ryan said smugly.   
“I didn’t ask you anything, Bergara. I just kissed you. Keep up.” Shane retorted, but he could feel Ryan’s smile that had been pasted onto his own face, and _god_ , he finally understood what he had been wanting every time Ryan threw him that grin.   
“Don’t be a jackass, Shane.”  
“But I’m always a jackass.”  
“Please never change.”  
And with that, Ryan pulled him back down into another kiss, and Shane placed a hand on the side of the teenager’s face, feeling wisps of hair between his fingers.   
_‘Touching you..’_  
He could feel Ryan’s whole body pressed against him, clinging to the taller boy just like he always did when he needed him.   
‘ _Touching me...’_  
The entire world seemed to dissolve around them, or at least everything that didn’t matter, because the only things that mattered to Shane in that moment were himself, Ryan, and the cheesy love song.   
_‘Touching you! God, you’re touching me!’_  
And Shane wouldn’t be able to stop smiling if he wanted to.   
_‘I believe in a thing called love!’_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The song is “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness, and is also an absolute slapper.


End file.
